O R D E R

(28/12/2020)

The present petition has been filed seeking quashment of the charge-sheet dated 31.12.2017 and all proceedings consequential thereto. The charge-sheet arises from the FIR bearing Crime No.136/2016 dated 22.10.2016 registered against the Petitioner for offences punishable under section 419 IPC and section 66-D of the IT Act at PS Cyber and Hi-tech Crime, Bhadbhada, Bhopal. The charge- sheet was eventually filed under sections 419, 468 and 471 IPC read with section 66-D of the Information Technology Act.

2. The case was committed to the Court of Sessions and made over to the Court of the Third Additional District & Sessions Judge, Bhopal, and was registered as ST No.184/2018. Charges were framed by an order dated 11.1.2019 by the learned Trial Court under sections 419, 468, 471 and 467 IPC and under section 66-D of the Information Technology Act.

3. Briefly stated, facts of the case are as follows. The complainant, who is the Respondent No.2 herein, and the Petitioner studied together at the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, and completed their studies in the year 2010. The Petitioner is stated to have joined a top law firm in Delhi and was working there, whereas the complainant could not find a job despite her best endeavours, as so stated by the Petitioner. It is also the case of the prosecution that the families of the Petitioner and the complainant were in talks with each other regarding the marriage of the Petitioner and the complainant which however could not materialize.

4. In the year 2013, the complainant is said to have started working on a contractual basis with D.L.A Piper, a Singapore based law firm. In December 2013, the complainant is stated to have resigned from her contractual position with the said Company and returned to India. According to the State, the Petitioner assured the complainant that he would have her placed in a well-

reputed job and that in furtherance to the said assurance, the complainant was promised several projects for the State Street Bank Trust (hereinafter referred to as “the SSBT”) and other organizations. It is further the case of the State that the salary that was meant for the complainant was not transferred into her account directly by the client but into the account of the Petitioner, who thereafter transferred it into the account of the complainant. The complainant is stated to have tried moving to Singapore once again to work with the SSBT which did not work out. However, it is unequivocally admittedly by the State that several lacs of rupees were transferred from the bank account of the Petitioner to the bank account of the complainant.

5. It is alleged that the Petitioner created various fake email IDs and thereafter offered jobs from various fictitious companies/international organizations allegedly to deceive the complainant and get monetary benefit out of the work done by her. The Petitioner states that he has not received a single penny from any of the companies or international organizations whatsoever instead, he has transferred his hard-earned salary to the complainant only with a motive of helping her through a difficult patch on account of “their affections and long-standing emotional relationships” (as stated by the Petitioner in paragraph 8 of his petition). It is further alleged by the prosecution that on 1.6.2014 the parents of the Petitioner visited the complainant’s house to talk about their marriage. However, as the complainant was unemployed and the recent demise of her father, the complainant’s family could not fulfil the alleged demands of the Petitioner and his family which resulted in the deferment of their marriage. As regards this allegation, the Petitioner states that neither he nor his family members made any monetary demand, or a demand of any other nature on the complainant and her family. The Petitioner on his part alleges that he and his family were treated with the utmost disrespect by the complainant and refused to enterta